Comic Book Scholar to Appear at Winthrop Jan. 11

Quick Facts

Cartoonist and comic book scholar Scott McCloud will speak at Winthrop Jan. 11. McCloud has become a well-known comic theorist and lecturer.

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Winthrop University’s Department of Art and Design will welcome cartoonist and comic book scholar Scott McCloud to lecture on Jan. 11. His visit to Rock Hill will be the only lecture in the Piedmont.

The event will be at 7 p.m. in Tillman Auditorium on the Winthrop campus. Admission is $10.

Born in Boston, Mass., McCloud created a science fiction/superhero comic book series in 1984 called "Zot!" that became a cult classic. The light-hearted series was a reaction to the stark direction that other superhero comics were taking in the 1980s. Since then, he released the comic book, "Destroy!!," which was a parody of formulaic superhero fights; a graphic novel, "The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln"; and 12 issues of DC Comics "Superman Adventures."

With the 1993 publication of his book "Understanding Comics," McCloud became known as a comic theorist. Though the material was presented in comic book form, the content dealt extensively with issues involving textual, symbolic, and visual communication, and related the narrative presentation of comics to hieroglyphs, film, and many other art and cultural issues. The book, which includes definitions, history, vocabulary and methods of comics, has since been adopted by several academic programs, including art, film and theatre.

Since publication of the first book, McCloud has been invited to present lectures and seminars for Harvard University, Princeton University, the Microsoft Design Conference, Pixar Animation, M.I.T., IBM, Georgia Tech, Lotus Research and The Smithsonian Institute, as well as other engagements in America and abroad.

He followed "Understanding Comics" with a more controversial book in 2000, "Reinventing Comics," where he outlined 12 revolutions that would be vital to the success of comics. Earlier this year, he released "Making Comics" which examines the creative and editorial processes involved in the creation of comics.

McCloud was one of the earliest promoters of web comics as a distinct variety of comics. On his website, he publishes many of his ongoing experiments with comics produced specifically for the web.

Funding for the Jan. 11 event, which has limited seating, will be provided by the Arts Council of Rock Hill and York County. For more information, contact Chad Dresbach, associate professor of art and design, at 803/323-2660.